AIB, DPP team up for cyber security

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The Association for International Broadcasting and the UK's Digital Production Partnership will collaborate on cybersecurity awareness

The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) and the Digital Production Partnership (DPP) have announced a collaboration which will focus on cybersecurity issues affecting the global broadcast industry.

The AIB serves international broadcasters and has made cybersecurity a central issue over the past three years. It's specialist Working Group brings together broadcasters and key suppliers from around the world. As a result of the new collaboration with the DPP new collaboration, the AIB is announcing its endorsement and backing for the NABA/DPP Broadcaster Cyber Security Requirements for Suppliers (read it in full here).

DPP's membership is representative of the whole media supply chain, including production companies, manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, post production facilities, consultancies and broadcasters. Besides working on the development of specifications and best practice in content exchange, a major DPP focus is the issue of cyber security.

Industry cyber security incidents over the past several years have become increasingly threatening, including the 2015 attack against France's TV5, which took the channel off the air, and the damaging hacks against Sony Pictures which occurred after a contentious restructuring within the company.

Through this new collaborative venture, DPP will become an associate member of the AIB, and the AIB will become a DPP member.

"This new collaboration between the AIB and DPP is important for the whole broadcasting industry," said Simon Spanswick, AIB chief executive. "There is much commonality between the aims and the work programme of our two organisations and cyber security is at the top of both organisations' agendas. In endorsing the NABA/DPP security requirements document, the AIB is reaffirming its commitment - and that of its members - to driving the media industry towards increased security to protect broadcasters from devastating cyber attack. We will work closely with our DPP colleagues over the coming months on this critical issue."

"There are few more important areas for change in the media sector than the improvement needed in security practices throughout the supply chain," said Mark Harrison, managing director of the DPP. "The DPP believes that pan-industry change such as this can only be delivered by collaboration. So we are really delighted to be working more closely with the AIB, who are just as committed to this area as we are. The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) defined some important, pragmatic cyber security requirements in broadcasting; and now the DPP and AIB will work together to drive their implementation."

The new collaboration between the AIB and DPP will also allow the exchange of information on a wide range of other issues, and lead to closer co-operation between members of the two organisations.